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Author
Topic: Needle Stick. May seem silly... (Read 34773 times)

I was at a bar the other night and I've got this small little scab looking thing on my hand. I had quite a few beers and became paranoid about the possibility of being stuck with something. A needle perhaps? With contaminated blood? I've heard alotta stories about people getting stuck with needles in clubs and bars... probably just myths but you never know...

I don't know it's far fetched but I'm just not so sure I would've felt it even if it was a needle since I'd had some drinks.

"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

You have been coming to this forum since last December (see the link in my first post in that thread for your December concerns) and I think it's fair for us to expect you to have learned something about hiv transmission by now. Don't you?

You seem to be dwelling on your fear of being infected with hiv. I'm sorry, but the purpose of this forum is education, not mental health care. Please seek out a mental health care professional for some face-to-face help with your hiv anxieties. We cannot help you with that here.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

You have been coming to this forum since last December (see the link in my first post in that thread for your December concerns) and I think it's fair for us to expect you to have learned something about hiv transmission by now. Don't you?

You seem to be dwelling on your fear of being infected with hiv. I'm sorry, but the purpose of this forum is education, not mental health care. Please seek out a mental health care professional for some face-to-face help with your hiv anxieties. We cannot help you with that here.

Ann

I know and I have in fact learned alot. But it seems that the more I learn, the more worried I seem to become. I'm pretty sure the mark on my hand was just a harmless scratch as it has seemed to scab over now, but it's just all those little 'what ifs' that make me nuts.

What if i was pricked with something and didn't feel it? I know you call them urban myths but I mean there's lots of twisted people in our society... you never know.

All I really wanted to know was if anybody knew how likely it might be to not feel a needle prick you. I try to make my questions as harmless as possible I don't wanna upset you guys, you've already been a great help to me.

Even if you were pricked, this is not a viable transmission route. And yes, these kinds of reports are pretty much urban myths.

YOu didn't have a risk of hiv infection.

I suggest you seek the help of a mental health care professional to work through these hiv anxieties you are having. Hiv education should be making your more relaxed and confident, not making you a nervous wreck.

Hiv sites have become toxic to you and you would do yourself a favour by staying away from them, this one included.

There's nothing more we can do for you here. Please get the face-to-face help and support you need. We can't do that for you here.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Sorry to bug you guys again, but I've got a question about the use of dirty toilet paper.

I was using a public washroom the other day for #2 and when I went to clean up - I noticed a some blood on the paper from what was probably a small irritation down there. This freaked me out because I used the toilet paper there to clean up and before I did, the roll had fallen on the floor. I picked it up right away not thinking much about it... but used it anyways.

So is there anything to worry about? I'm just worried about taking something that had touched a dirty bathroom floor and rubbing it over a bleeding cut or sore. I hate these filthy bathrooms in the city but it was an emergency.

I'm aware of this. But on numerous occasions I've seen people talk about things that SHOULD be taken into account when a chance of HIV transmission was non-existant. I thought that perhaps I'd ask about the toilet paper thing here.

It is a myth that you can pick up STIs from any surface in a public toilet. They are called sexually transmitted infections for a reason - and that reason is they are transmitted through sexual contact - not contact with surfaces in a public place.

You can pick up bacteria like E.coli from dirty surfaces, so always wash your hands after going potty. OK?

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

I wasn't actually worried about anything ON the toilet seat, but rather what could've been on the floor of that filthy washroom. The paper touched the floor before I used it (when the roll fell out of the holder) and THEN I discovered I had a small bleeding irritation down there after I cleaned up

You didn't read what I wrote. I said ANY surface in a public toilet. A public toilet is another way of saying public washroom. I didn't mean the actual porcelain throne alone, I meant the whole shebang.

STIs, including hiv, are NOT transmitted via surfaces in public buildings, whether it is a toilet, a washroom, a doorknob or toilet paper.

If you cannot let go of the concerns you have brought to us, it may be time for you to seek the assistance of a mental health care professional. We cannot give you the face-to-face support you need. There is nothing more we can do for you here.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

I traipsed a needle from my train station to my home in Oct 1999. I may or may not have stood on it in my stocking feet after changing from my work clothes. The needle and green transluscent plastic housing were hard to see against the grey loop pile carpet in my hallway as I wandered to the kitchen. I walked back and forth from my room to the kitchen a few times. It was only after being home 15 minutes that my flatmate spotted it. Why he did not say anything immediately was down to his Asbergers Syndrome and assumption "It was your rubbish as you work in a hospital" so he left it there for me to pick up. I sat on my bed staring at my feet looking for a jab mark. I did see a tiny puncture on my left instep but figured surely I would have felt it. But they are so sharp you may not feel it.

I rang the police to report the whole thing and asking who should clean the station which was opposite a needle exchange clinic, which lacked injecting rooms. The cop was rather dismissive and said that had I stood on it I had a 1 in 4 chance of it carrying HIV. I would be more likely to come down with Hep C or something similar first. I kept the needle in an empty plastic water bottle for later analysis but disposed of about a month later as I had no symptoms. I also discussed it with an HIV Virologist I play soccer with. He said the same thing as the cop.

Approx two months later I feel very ill, lost 20 pounds and took three weeks off work. I visited my local doctor 4 months later as my perotid glands grew cysts and my cheeks had visible swellings. I asked about HIV and mentioned the needle incident. The hospital doctor, a top Maxillofacial surgeon, was placating me with the facts that as a straight man who had usually practised safe sex and never injected drugs it was not worth testing me. Two years and various illnesses later I had it confirmed in Oct 2002. I went on meds in Aug 2004.

Some doctors say no way. The Dec 1999 flu was probably my system collapsing after the 10 year latent phase. And I caught it from a condom breakage in the late 80's ( I'm so butch!). My actual specialist, perhaps the best HIV Consultant in Britain, was not so hasty. He thinks that a fresh needle caught in the cleats of my boots could feasibly keep the blood hermetically sealed until my foot was impaled against it. The Dec 1999 'Millenium Bug Flu' could have been my sero-conversion.

So there you have it. I can't prove anything, can't sue the Train Operator or the Needle Exchange Clinic. Only if I had kept a clean blood speciman from before the incident could I prove anything. The official line is that the chances of transmission this way are 0.5%. All very well for a medic in a white coat to trot this out but when you are the one who stood on it you become aware that these 1 in 200 unlucky people do exist. Had it happened on ward with alcohol swabs etc I may have been OK.

Has this person worried about the 'Pricks' in bars actual had a test? Her paranoia reminds me of an ex girlfriend from New York I dated while she was in London in 1988. Her flat was next to a famous Gay hotel in Earl's Court. She came to me worried as she heard that her flat shares the water supply with the hotel. She said she got splashed when she flushed the loo and wondered if there was any chance of HIV. I laughed my head off. A top college grad talking like a retarded person. Well it was 1988. Surely we still don't have this paranoia in 2006.

he Dec 1999 flu was probably my system collapsing after the 10 year latent phase.

With respect, HIV does not have a "latent" phase. Surely the specialist you play soccer with would have pointed that out.

Aldous, (your name notwithstanding) your story strikes me as dangerously anecdotal and of no relevance to the AIDSMEDS forums and this thread in particular. Clearly you have issues and a particular agenda that you're pushing. You should either start your own thread or, even better, take your stuff elsewhere.

In fact I view your comments with such seriousness that I've reported them to the Moderators.

In response to my message of yesterday telling a totally true story about a 'possible' needle stick incident, I think I need to make my position more clear. I'm not being pius or judgemental, just honest.

I'm not pushing any hidden agenda. The criticisms seem to contradict each other. One viewer disputes my 'latent' phase. Call it what you will 'Incubation' or 'Ignorance is Bliss' phase you know what I mean. I write of the time between Sero-conversion and showing symptoms. I thought stating this alternative scenario makes it clear that I really have no way of knowing how or when I got infected , via the needle or my knob.

I am stating the actual views of qualified healthcare professionals. I have to consider all opinions. On a more serious note I hope it was through the needle at least that way I have eliminated the chances of onward transmission prior to 1999. Although I always insisted on condoms. Coming from clean green nuclear-free New Zealand to England in 1987 I had already had enough paranoia instilled in me via the media prior to coming here. I have walked out of bedrooms when women have not had condoms but were willing to have sex anyway. My attitude was 'How many other guys have they said that to?' It is indeed a bitter irony considering the current behaviour of my 'presumably' negative straight friends, that I'm the positive one. But that's life.

I did not expect such an unsympathetic backlash and certainly did not expect to be threatened with censorship by way of being reported to the moderator. I think my comments are indeed most relevant to this thread even if they are a counter point to all the other doubters.

I think the thing that hacks other positive people off is this notion that I'm saying I've got 'Good AIDS' through an innocent accident. I am reluctant to tell this story to people in my support group for this very reason. All I'm doing is relating actual events as they occurred. You have to admit the timing is very suspicious. 6-8 weeks between both events, exposure in Oct 99 to sero-conversion illness in Dec 99.

Perhaps I should start another thread. The fact that people like me are not supposed to exist. I recently answered a plea from a Greek journalist from a conservative newspaper in Athens. She said that she has yet to meet a heterosexual positive man other than IV drug users. I explained that stigma stops them getting medical help let alone going to her support group. I pointed out that Straights are TEN TIMES MORE LIKELY TO DIE THAN GAYS as they ignore the signs and present too late to be saved. That is why there are so few of us.

It suits all other parties to treat us as invisible. The Gay community see us as a threat to limited charitable funds and clinical resources. The governments don't want to throw cold water on the 'Commercialisation of Sex and the Sexualisation of Commerce' It suits big business and state alike to kept the numbers down by ignoring us or letting us die, and at the same time using sex to sell practically everything from ice cream to paint.

I think all affected groups need to come together to broaden the debate and finally take this virus seriously. I'm not homophobic but I sense a certain heterophobia out there. I find this shouting down very counter productive.

I'd like to invite you to post in the Living With HIV Forum rather than this forum. Your post is not really appropriate in this thread or forum. Here in the Am I Infected forum, we stick to first-tier, peer-reviewed, quantifiable, researched and documented science when it comes to hiv transmission issues.

I am not questioning your theory on how you became infected - but at the end of the day, I'm sure you can agree that it is just that - theory. Stories like this, when related in this forum, only cause panic unnecessarily.

I hope you can understand where I'm coming from - as I can understand where YOU are coming from. Please, post in the appropriate forum.

There are plenty of people waiting to accept and welcome you to the Living forum, with no judgements, just support.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

You have got a lot to answer for. I read your new thread topic and Needle Stick leapt out at me so I read on.

I'm new to the forum world and naively typed out my own 'Very Freak' accident details without realising the hornet's nest I was about to stir up. Check it out on 'Living with HIV' under 'Pecking Order'.

I tend to write from a stream of conciousness, almost sub-consciousness, I'm afraid my story may have scared the bejezzers out of a small minority of untested people who I forgot may log on.

In regard to your question. Yes I'm positive I'm Positive but not so positive how. For me to have caught it in the way I described would have taken a combination of several low odds occurences so seems unlikely. I doubt one could even recreate the same scenario CSI stlyle. There are issues about the virus surviving in the hollow needle, presumably under my heel, while I walked about 500 yards from the station in the wet. Still I did fall very ill in typical time frame so the timing kind of points to it. That's kind of why I wrote about it in the first bloody place as I never have before. Is that not the point of forums, sorry fora for the pedants out there.

Like I wrote before about my old girlfriend and the toilet water you seem to be unduly worried. If you are do what I did and get a test. It's all the rage these days.

I did not mean to scare you. Perhaps this website is best reserved for those who know they are positive.

Aldous, I agree with Ann that you should talking in the LIVING WITH section.

While I do certainly sympathize with your having become infected, there is nothing in what you have written which conclusively deals with how you were actually infected.

It's important to say that here because so many people who come to this section are worried about whether they are infected or not. I'm afraid that reading what you have written, however unintentional on your part will feed into some of their worst paranoid and unfounded fears.

So I must state again that while we know you are HIV+, it is absolutely not clear how that came about and the conclusion you imply as the cause is not one which has been documented in any recognized scientific way.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

So I finally did it. I went to get a blood test and full checkup. Took about every ounce of courage I had, but it's done. I guess we'll see what happens.

I was nervous about putting a needle in me though, the nurse who took the blood seemed to be in a huge rush and wasn't very gentle about it. I hope she wasn't careless with that needle before she stuck it in me. I didn't even see where she got it from which kinda makes me nervous.

This site is toxic to you at this point. And from here, it's a slippery slope to full-frontal crazy. You can, at any time, exit the ride.

Logged

"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

Nurses aren't in the business of infecting people with anything. If you cannot accept that fact, then seek the assistance of a mental health care provider. We cannot help you with your health care related anxieties here. If it takes giving you a time out to encourage you to get help through the appropriate channels, then that's fine by me.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

I am a worrier myself but agree with the others that it'd prolly be best for you to turn your attention online elsewhere. Too much of this site for those in a worry well phase is not good.

Just a quick comment on the above posts regarding the needle stick, I think everyone would agree that it would be much more common for soemone who worked in a healthcare setting to become accidentally stuck with a needle than someone who is drinking beer at a local pub. As an alcoholic myself, I have often times worried about possible non-events during those times when the memory becomes a little fuzzy with Budwesier or Tequila. I'm sure your tests will be fine, if this is the only incident (non-incident) you are worried about I'm willing to guarantee it.

Next time you go to log on to this site, Google a page about a favorite hobby or a favorite movie, sports team, etc.

Lets do a little experiment.........it may help you determine your "needle stick" risk. Go into your fridge and grab a 6 pack........drink them. Get a clean, unwrapped, sterile needle........and gab in into your hand. Did you feel that? thought so! People arent running around with needles infecting other people, get a grip!

Um, worried well people, especially those with open threads, tend to sort of clog up the system here when they attempt to give advice. Mainly because we have to double check their supposed facts to a degree far and above those given by seasoned respondents. It's not some exclusive club. Its simply an agenda-free zone reliant on the science.

At least, that's what it is to me.

Logged

"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."